The reporter from Rome never has anything good to say about Italy.
I assume the brits do not get layed in Italy,
the italian girls see through the right wing crop.
The anglosaxons will never be able to understand Macchiavelli and the polychronic italian cultur.
Please be more objective and less professorial.
Today the International Monatory Funds, contradicted everything your reporter said about Italy.
Am i wasting my time reading the economist?
I will let you know next time i read more idiotics personal opinion
passed as news.
A little bit more of honesty might be helpful.

I have always agreed with you ( well 90% !).
But the situation now is critical, SB wants Fiscal changes only in 2013, the year we have elections,meaning never to happen, Bossi says 2010 or we have elections, he was promised these changes in 2008-2009.
To stay in power SB needs to kick out Fini and see the LN as an equal partner......but knowing the situation, I can guarantee Italy will have elections at the end of 2010 or early 2011. Italy will end up in a very poor state. 3 main parties, who will align with who?

the three venezia's are already incorporated in the minds of the Venetists (Zaia being one) as the old region called Venetia (with trieste included), so I agree with you on this.
Elected councillors?, well that means the old Republic of Venice system in its Terrafirma area's, .....if it worked for 1100 years I cannot see why it cannot work now.
I agree with the rest of your comments.

As for my personnel point of view........I prefer that regions govern themselves and that each "president/leader" of that region is in government, Italy will be a confederation of Italian states ( similar to the Swiss system)........if this is unwielding, then the Gianfranco Miglio system of 3 zones of government, north, central and South.
Next....if the north get too desperate due to lack of change...then a padania.

But we can all see the writing on the call....ITALY cannot function like it did 5, 10, 20 or 100 years ago. its needs major changes or its going like Greece.

@Zorzon
I think one of the problems with liars (not to mention the 10% in need of psychiatric care) in politics is that messages are completely misunderstood in a sort of comedy of errors.
We really need to sit down in the northeast and re-draw political borders and fiscal rules. Bossi, Fini and Berlusconi argue when I think what needs to be done is not so difficult.
1) Don't abolish the Provinces, they serve a useful purpose in attenuating exaggerated "campanilismo"; abolish instead the provincial councils that exist only to talk, then make the commissioners (assessori) elected rather than appointed.
2) Give the Veneto semi-autonomous status - and save money by abolishing Friuli-Venezia Giulia, incorporating its 3 or 4 provinces directly into the Veneto (Gorizia is a separate problem). Let's create a semi-autonous region from Trento or Bolzano to Trieste.
3) Over 50% of FVG budget is dedicated to health services - so we create one health system for seven million people, with headquarters in, let's say, Padua if Venice is too detached. Note I am not suggesting cuts in services, just greater efficiencies.
4) Cut 4-5 points from the national budget immediately to bring accounts into balance.
a) Cut military missions abroad which are horridly expensive; plus, did we really need to build the world's sixth largest navy over the last 10-15 years when the state is fundamentally bankrupt?
b) Cut infrastructure spending, of which there are two types - necessary and unnecessary: Necessary spending can wait another year (God knows we have put up with bad infrastructure for decades so it can wait another year); Unnecessary spending, like the bridge of Messina should be put off (and maybe finally cancelled).
c) We also need a maximum roof on pensions - nobody should receive more than 6-8 thousand euros a month. If they earned more over their working life presumably they have made other investments.

I think in general we need to stop worrying about metaphysical debates like Italy-yes, Italy-no, Federal vs. Confederal historical debates, etc. and worry more about Functionalist approaches to our problems. I don't care or need to resolve today the question of Venetian independence. I do need fiscal reform (semi-autonomous status) that will leave more money to be spent locally (and away from Roman political/religious hands). If the Tri-Veneto had less of its money going to Rome and was governed well locally, we could even tolerate remaining in Italy.
On the other hand, the present situation is intolerable, and heading straight towards violent rebellion sooner or later.

@Prodino: I would not worry to much about the Stefano De Sanctis guy as he might not be for real.

Moreover, please let us all stay on topic here: is TE right in pointing out persistent lack of economic growth in Italy?
My perception is that there's a strong connection with demography, as Italian on average are gowing older, self-satisfied and afraid of change.
Not a recipe for innovation and red-hot growth.

At this level, who's the PM and what level of tax evasion he/she allows is important but, sadly, not fundamental.

To Stefano De Santis. With respect sir, are you living in the clouds? Your suggestion that Prodi is inept and totally irrelevant as an economist is ludicrous beyond belief even for a Berlusconi stalwart like yourself?? The man is an honorary lecturer at the London School of Economics. He's an advisor to Goldman Sachs and to numerous governments on Economic matters and he was a fundamental figure in the negotiations that took place a few years ago among EU leaders (even if he wasnt in office) to sort out the European Economic mess (your man was nowhere to be seen I'm afraid, not that Il Giornale would have made that known??) I can only assume that the "preposterous" idea that Prodi had when in power between 2006 & 2007, where Italians would have had to have paid their taxes, hit a raw nerve, hence your anger towards him???

even if it is true that Italian banks were hitten less hardly than foreign banks from the financial crisis, they reduced the supply of credit anyway, triggering the crisis of the real economy as in the rest of europe.

Given this, it's just NO TRUE, that Italy did better than other countries, it actually did worse: noone else got a (roughly) -6% of GDP.

This happened because the italian economy is more vulnerable for a number of reasons, and because the huge public debt prevented the government from doing a serious stimulus package as other countries did.

In addition, it should be noted that italian banks were less hitten NOT because they were in better shape, but actually because the italian financial system is underdeveloped: this is another fact that will make the recover slower.

Italy would need hard structural reform, strating from a "shock therapy" of liberalizations, which in theory should be the program of a centre-right government.....unfortunately Berlusconi doesn't seem to have any intention to do something for the Country that could reduce his consensus

Another light article on Italy's financial situation. It did better than other countries in the financial crisis because its banking system was in better shape (why would that be given that the country has been threatening to fold for decades) so could the same type of robustness permeate the economy. Or is the analysis somewhat incomplete or deep enough?

The article leaves the question if The Economist wants to talk down Italy or just does not understand it. Italy has many problems but they don't lay where the tunnel vision of Anglo-Saxon hard core capitalists may see them.

These forecasts are wrong as always they used to be,while those of the European institutions are more laughable than ever(does someone remind the overtake of Spain on Italy wished,more than foreseen,by the band of EUROSTAT in 2007?).The TRUE Italian economy is the one that is computed in the Sales Budget of the big European automakers:they know very well that the official economy of Italy(the one shrinking by 5%),can't explain a market of more than 2 millions cars/year(bigger than France until 2007,equal in 2008).THE ROME JOURNAL is right,when he writes that tax evasion exists because the tax system would cripple the economy.And this economy(much bigger than Sweden)is not shrinking but hosting those who dodges taxes just to survive.TOSCANO forgets that Prodi killed the pensions and workers wages with the CUNEO FISCALE,that shifted 12 billions from the pocket of the Italians to the banks and Fiat,and depressed the consumes.Prodi committed one of the worst crimes in the Italian postwar History.It's a name not to mention in a seroius debate.

It is difficult to write Italy off. A failure on behalf of analysts in the current crisis is to understand the balance of economies internal issues, and more importantly relative strength. Under normal conditions, nobody would buy USD, or Greek Govt bonds, Californain bonds, or UK Bonds. However, this crisis leaves all weaker, but weakness is comparable. Italy has been expected to fail since 1871. The country has massive structural (economic) issues, but they are not simple to solve, and neither are they as problematic as they first appear. Solving the problem of tax evasion would actually drive the country over the edge instead of assist in its tax receipts. The black economy exists because the tax system cripples business. First fix the tax system, then chase the tax.

I could go on forever, but it is much more complicated than is described in this article. The importance of giving govt debt figures with the percentage held domestically is vitally important (otherwise Japanese debt looks ridiculous).

Italy has two major areas in which they will be hounded in the future. Competitiveness and growth. They need a fundamentally new approach or the country will slowly become another Greece. But it will be slow.

Italy is just great to live in. Bureaucracy and health care have improved a lot in recent years. What a shame the people in Rome and in the deep south have so little pride in keeping it clean; paper and plastic litter the suburban roadsides which are badly cared for with their sides and pavements not manicured.
Tax evasion is ripe with nearly all workmen,and even dentists, wanting cash instead of cheques or credit cards.

The delays that The PdL are doing in that they are not enacting on promises made to the LN for fiscal reforms will see and end to this coalition before the end of the year. journalists have aked Bossi, what if the reforms are not met by the PdL, reply - We will have new elections.

Don't be surprised if there are 3 main parties jostling for power and note LN will not be with PdL again. See a Pd with LN .

The merry go round of Italian politics goes around and around.

LN is trying to modernize Italian laws and bring them closer to UK, FRA and the USA but are being stifled at every turn.

The end of the nation called Italy is near, for some hooray , for others despair.